Granted Patent B2

US 9,135,218 · App. 13/693,010 · Granted Sep 15, 2015

Abstract

Claims (80)

1. A system comprising:

a main radio station configured to play a sequence of media items;

a downstream radio station configured to receive and play-out at least a portion of the sequence of media items played on main radio station;

the main radio station further configured to:

determine whether a particular song played on the main radio station is a candidate for replacement at the downstream radio station;

determine whether the particular song is played adjacent to an interstitial audio item on the main radio station;

at least partially in response to a determination that the particular song is not played adjacent to the interstitial audio item, generate a replacement notification to the downstream radio station, the replacement notification indicating to the downstream radio station that the particular song is to be replaced;

a replacement engine configured to:

provide the downstream radio station with a song selection result;

receive information identifying the particular song to be replaced;

generate a list of potential replacement songs, each potential replacement song in a different category than the particular song to be replaced;

iterate through the list of potential replacement songs to identify at least one song satisfying a minimum length requirement; and

choose a shortest song that satisfies the minimum length requirement.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the downstream radio station is further configured to:

adjust a play-out of the downstream radio station to account for a length difference between a replacement song and the particular song.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the downstream radio station is further configured to:

record audio from the main radio station in a buffer having a current buffer delay;

play-out buffer-delayed audio on the downstream station;

stop recording audio from the main radio station in response to the replacement notification;

play-out the buffer prior to playing-out a replacement song;

play the replacement song;

restart recording audio from the main radio station in the buffer in response to a song marker; and

restart buffer-delayed play-out of audio from the main radio station after a target buffer delay is reached.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the downstream radio station is further configured to:

determine whether the song selection result identifies a song available for play-out by the downstream radio station; and

in response to a determination that an identified song is available, use the identified song as a replacement song for the particular song.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the downstream radio station is further configured to:

determine whether the song selection result identifies a song available for play-out by the downstream radio station; and

in response to a determination that the song selection result does not identify a song available to the downstream radio station, select a filler song to use as a replacement song for the particular song.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the song selection result comprises:

wherein the minimum length requirement of the song is determined as a function of a length of the particular song to be replaced, a current buffer delay, and a target buffer delay, wherein the target buffer delay is not limited to be the same value as the current buffer delay.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein generation of the replacement notification is further dependent upon whether business rules prohibit replacement of the particular song.

8. A method comprising:

determining whether a particular song played on a main radio station is a candidate for replacement at a downstream radio station;

determining whether the particular song is played adjacent to an interstitial audio item on the main radio station;

in response to the determining, selecting a replacement song to substitute in place of the particular song;

adjusting a play-out of the downstream radio station using a variable buffer to account for a length difference between a replacement song and the particular song;

wherein selecting the replacement song further comprises:

obtaining a list of potential replacement songs, each potential replacement song in a different category than the particular song to be replaced;

iterating through the list of potential replacement songs to identify at least one song satisfying a minimum length requirement; and

choosing a shortest song that satisfies the minimum length requirement.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the selecting a replacement song comprises:

selecting a replacement song having a minimum length determined as a function of a length of the particular song to be replaced, a current buffer delay, and a target buffer delay, wherein the target buffer delay is not limited to be the same value as the current buffer delay.

10. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

recording audio from the main radio station in a buffer having a current buffer delay;

playing-out buffer-delayed audio on the downstream station;

stopping the recording in response to a replacement notification;

playing-out the buffer;

playing the replacement song on the downstream station;

restarting the recording in response to a song marker; and

restarting buffer-delayed play-out on the downstream station after a target buffer delay is reached.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the selecting a replacement song further comprises:

determining whether a replacement song is available for play-out;

in response to a determination that an identified song is available, use the identified song as a replacement song for the particular song; and

in response to a determination that a replacement song is not available, selecting a filler song to use as a replacement song for the particular song.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein selecting the replacement song further comprises:

requesting a list of replacement songs from an automated radio scheduling system.

13. The method of claim 8 , wherein the interstitial audio item comprises at least one of:

a station identifier;

a live audio item; and

a voice track.

14. A non-transitory computer readable medium, the computer readable medium comprising a program of computer executable instructions, the program of instructions comprising:

at least one instruction to determine whether a particular song played on a main radio station is a candidate for replacement at a downstream radio station;

at least one instruction to determine whether the particular song is played adjacent to an interstitial audio item on the main radio station;

at least one instruction to select a replacement song to substitute in place of the particular song in response to the at least one instruction to determine;

at least one instruction to adjust a play-out of the downstream radio station using a variable buffer to account for a length difference between a replacement song and the particular song;

at least one instruction to request a list of replacement songs from an automated radio scheduling system;

at least one instruction to obtaining a list of potential replacement songs, each potential replacement song in a different category than the particular song to be replaced;

at least one instruction to iterating through the list of potential replacement songs to identify at least one song satisfying a minimum length requirement; and

at least one instruction to choosing a shortest song that satisfies the minimum length requirement.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the program of instructions further comprises:

at least one instruction to select a replacement song having a minimum length determined as a function of a length of the particular song to be replaced, a current buffer delay, and a target buffer delay, wherein the target buffer delay is not limited to be the same value as the current buffer delay.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 14 , further comprising:

at least one instruction to record audio from the main radio station in a buffer having a current buffer delay;

at least one instruction to play-out buffer-delayed audio on the downstream station;

at least one instruction to stop the recording in response to a replacement notification;

at least one instruction to play-out the buffer;

at least one instruction to play the replacement song on the downstream station;

at least one instruction to restart the recording in response to a song marker; and

at least one instruction to restart buffer-delayed play-out on the downstream station after a target buffer delay is reached.

Assignments (21)